Yesterday’s explosion at the Port of Beirut has plunged Lebanon into chaos as the lion’s share of the country’s grain stock was incinerated in the blast which equalled a 4.5 earthquake on the Richter scale.
And as the country’s capital takes its first steps towards recovering from an entirely unnecessary calamity that caused devastation over a 10km radius, more evidence is emerging that the blast was indeed caused by 2 750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port.
With the death toll already at 135 – and rising - the explosion has left 300 000 people homeless.
Lebanese authorities, meantime, have wasted little time arresting port officials suspected of gross dereliction of duty.
This comes after it was found that the ammonium nitrate had been confiscated some seven years ago after a Moldovan-flagged cargo vessel, Rhosus, was pulled into Beirut following technical difficulties.
Port state officials impounded the vessel after flagging it as unseaworthy and a month later its cargo was moved into storage.
The Rhosus’s Russian captain, Igor Grechuskin, has since retreated to Cyprus and the crew also abandoned the vessel.
The relevant authorities have on several occasions been warned of the unsafe storage of the ammonium nitrate.
Sparks from a welding machine reportedly led to yesterday’s fire at a nearby warehouse where fireworks were kept and which finally ignited the ammonium nitrate.
President Michel Aoun has vowed to throw the book at guilty parties, saying the arrested officials will face “the harshest punishment” possible if found to be guilty.
French line CMA CGM has reported that two of its staffers at the port were seriously injured in the explosion.
Another staff member remains missing.
German liner Hapag-Lloyd also indicated that serious damage to property had been sustained in the blast.